German cabinet passes bill for voluntary military service

Berlin: Germany's cabinet passed a draft bill on Wednesday that would introduce a voluntary military service as the country seeks to bolster national defences over Russian security concerns.

The text also opened the door to a reintroduction of compulsory enlistment.

The defence ministry hopes the voluntary six-month scheme will help double the number of trained reservists from the current level of around 100,000 and that some of the volunteers will go on to have a career in active service.

The bill likely faces a bumpy ride through parliament, in a test of Germany's commitment to bolstering national defence in times of rising security threats following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Germany ended its previous compulsory military service programme in 2011 and has since struggled to meet troop targets.

Minister Boris Pistorius wants to increase the number of soldiers in service from 180,000 to 260,000 by the early 2030s to meet new NATO force targets and strengthen Germany's defences - part of a planned surge in military spending.

"The Bundeswehr must grow," Pistorius said in a press conference on Wednesday. "The international security situation, above all Russia’s aggressive posture, makes this necessary.

"We don’t just need a well-equipped force — we are already well on the way there," he continued. "But we also need a Bundeswehr that is strong in terms of personnel. Only then will deterrence as a whole be truly credible vis-à-vis Russia."

The bill foresees certain annual recruitment targets for the new voluntary scheme: rising from 20,000 in 2026 to 38,000 in 2030.

If these numbers are not achieved, the government could opt instead to reinstate conscription, subject to parliamentary approval, according to the latest draft of the bill.

Already the current bill contains some mandatory elements, with all young men required to fill an online questionnaire regarding their willingness and abilities for military service after turning 18, to gain a better overview of the potentially available personnel.

Critics, in particular in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives, say Bundestag approval could delay the reintroduction of conscription. They want the bill to instead automatically trigger the draft in the event of missed targets.

Lawmakers in Pistorius' Social Democrats (SPD), junior party in Merz's coalition, say that the priority should be making the Bundeswehr, Germany's armed forces, an attractive employer, rather than turning back to mandatory service.

The defence ministry has intensified regional advertising, held career lounges and group event camps, and opened new troop visit centres in recent years in a bid to recruit more soldiers.

The armed forces reported a 28% surge in soldier recruits to more than 13,700 people from January to late July, compared with the same period last year in what the ministry called the steepest rise in years.